The Paradigmatic Weapon of New Wars

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This book begins with an account of the evolution of improvised explosive devices using a number of micro case studies to explore how and why actors have initiated IED campaigns; how new and old technologies and expertise have been exploited and how ethical barriers to IED development and deployment have been dealt with. It proceeds to bring the evidence from the case studies together to identify themes and trends in IED development, before looking at what can realistically be done to mitigate the threat of IEDs in the new wars of the twenty first century. The book suggests that the advance and availability of a combination of technological factors, in conjunction with changes in the nature of contemporary conflicts, have led to the emergence of IEDs as the paradigmatic weapons of new wars. However their prevalence in contemporary and future conflicts is not inevitable, but rather depends on the willingness of multiple sets of actors at different levels to build a web of preventative measures to mitigate – if not eradicate – IED development and deployment.

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Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

This chapter provides a short history of the early use of explosives in warfare beginning with the emergence of gunpowder and moving to the employment of dynamite, paying particular attention to the evolution of early improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the USA and Crimea.

This chapter outlines how a number of technical and social changes combined to feed into the rise of dynamite terrorism in the late nineteenth century, something illustrated through three micro case studies looking at Irish nationalists, the Russian Peoples Will, and Anarchist groups.

This chapter looks at the rise of IEDs over the course of the twentieth century and illustrates how IED component technology and information further diffused around the globe over the course of a number of conflicts endured during the last century.

This chapter looks at the role and rise of IEDs in the New Wars of the twenty-first century, paying particular attention to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, but also looking across the globe at how IEDs have emerged as the paradigmatic weapons of asymmetrical conflicts.

This chapter draws on the work of Everett Rogers on the diffusion of innovations to outline factors that influence whether and how actors innovate with technology in the context of IEDs. In doing so, the text brings together insights from the previous sections.

This chapter brings together a number of tools and activities that collectively form a toolkit of mutually reinforcing measures with which to mitigate the threat posed by IEDs. These are framed through the notion of a web of prevention, drawing on a concept employed in looking at chemical and biological weapons.